Olive Oil: Tree to Table in Tuscany

You’ve tasted olive oil and cooked with olive oil, but what do you really know about the juice of the olive? In the heart of Tuscany, professional olive oil judge Elisabetta Sebastio leads you from olive grove to mill to extra-virgin oil in the bottle. She and a starry cast of colleagues cover olive cultivars, their cultivation and chemical properties of olive oil. You learn how to taste and judge oil; how to detect defects and what causes them, the role of olive oil in the Mediterranean diet, how to use it in the kitchen and at the table. During the course you will taste 25 different oils from various regions of Italy. You'll make gelato and chocolate with olive oil and prepare truffles with it. In five days, you’ll master the basic knowledge to become an expert. All it takes is to continue practising.

Session 1: Introduction to the courseHistory of the olive and the symbiosis between man and oliveSensorial analysis

Tasting 1: Free tasting (not guided)

Visit to local olive mill

Welcome dinner with seasonal produce paired with various oils

FridayTransfer to Larciano Castello

Session 2: The treeTasting 2: Guided tasting

Lunch

Session 3: Visit to an olive tree nursery for propagation and cultivars​Session 4: The olive fruit and its influence on characteristics of oilTasting 3: Guided tastingSession 5: Other uses of the olive fruitSession 6: Cooking lesson with oil and dinner

​Transfer to Pisa airport or train stationThere will be one transfer no earlier than 8.30 am. Please don’t book trains that leave Pisa before 10.00 or flights that leave before 11.30. If you need to leave earlier, I can arrange a special transfer at your own expense.

Course Leader

​Elisabetta Sebastio

Elisabetta has a refined palate capable of discerning scents and flavours most people can't detect. Although she utilises it professionally to judge extra-virgin olive oil, she has broad experience and a lively interest in all types of food. She sits on panels which decide annually whether an oil is worthy of the coveted DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) granted by the European Union. She also serves as a judge for publishers of olive oil guides, and teaches the appreciation and sensorial analysis of olive oil. She produces oil for private consumption from her own olive trees, giving her practical knowledge of all phases of oliviculture including building dry-stone walls.

Course Instructors

Pietro Brachini

Società Pesciatina di Orticoltura and olive oil judge

Luciano Gori​Luciano Gori graduated in chemistry and for many years taught food chemistry and chemical plant installation at scuole superiori (sixth form / junior college). He is on the national register of expert olive oil tasters. Given that traditional Tuscan cuisine couldn't exist without olive oil, it's no surprise that he has always nurtured a passion for its characteristic dishes and the knowledge of ancient ingredients handed down through the generations. To help rescue them from oblivion he makes for himself (and for a few select appreciative friends) several products with 'forgotten' fruits from the Tuscan peasant tradition, which are no longer available in the marketplace, such as the wild apple, Volpine pear, Cascolina plum, quince, wild persimmon and uva fragola (Vitis labrusca, fox grape). We hope he'll consider us both appreciative and friends.

Mirko Tognetti​By the 1950s the tradition of artisan handmade gelato had almost been lost in Italy. Mirko couldn’t learn his art from his parents and grandparents. He started in a huge warehouse scheduling the efficient dispatch of goods. When the firm ran into trouble and made its employees redundant, Mirko was free to take up something closer to his heart. He visited a gelato trade fair only to be profoundly disillusioned. The stands were invaded by brightly coloured gelato and producers of semi-worked mixes which allowed anyone to make gelato with little effort and zero knowledge. Mirko began to think there was a better gelato waiting to be rediscovered. He swore that if he ever took up this craft, he would do everything from scratch and never, ever open a single packet. After two and a half years pursuing a formative path toward his goal, he was convinced he had arrived and could call himself a gelatiere. In 2013 Mirko opened the Cremeria Opera Naturali per Gusto in Lucca. It's now in the top fifty gelaterias in Italy.

Fabio Moschini​Fabio began his career when he was only 22. The son of an hotelier, he attended a culinary institute and gathered some experience as a waiter. He started playing around with chocolate for fun, but soon he was hooked and began to study with famous maîtres chocolatiers. By 1990 he was ready to dive into the great adventure of his life, opening his own chocolate shop Cioccolato & Company at Massa e Cozzile (Montecatini Terme). His dedication and hard work soon brought him success, and he took on Adria Grazzini as an employee. She too was bitten by the chocolate bug, and between them they produce a range of handmade chocolates and gelato using natural ingredients. If I listed them here, you'd be drooling.

Course Organiser

Erica Jarman

Following Heather’s careers as archaeologist, orchestra and artist manager and chef, she Italianised her name to Erica and came to Lucca to pursue her passion for traditional artisan food. Her tours, inspired by her infectious curiosity, open captivating new worlds to her guests.

Fattoria Rozzalupi, Cerreto Guidi

​Originally the Renaissance hunting lodge of an aristocratic Florentine family, the Fattoria evolved into a typical agricultural hamlet which has been sensitively converted to guest accommodation by the brother-in-law of our truffle hunter (we like to keep it in the family). They have olive groves and produce olive oil. On-site restaurant, swimming pool, wifi. http://www.fattoriarozzalupi.it/en/index.htm

Price​Per person: 1700 EurosThe farm where you stay, the people you visit and who present the course are dedicated to preserving the patrimony of traditional olive oil. By coming on the course you will be supporting it too.

Includes

5 nights welcoming, relaxing accommodation, en suite bathrooms

Local ground transportation for 6 days

Daily continental breakfast, 5 lunches, 5 dinners

Course lectures and all activities shown on Course tab, course notes

Does not include

Airfares

Travel and cancellation insurance

Wine and drinks other than those served with meals, additional meals

Personal expenses such as telephone, mini-bar, etc.

Meeting points

Where: Pisa airport, Pisa Centrale stationWhen: no later than 12.00If everyone arrives earlier, we'll pick you up as soon as everyone is there.

Airlines from outside Europe: You may have to fly to another European city and take a connecting flight or train to Pisa Centrale. There are good low-cost flights from many European cities. There are better train connections from Rome than from Milan.​Nearest train station: Pisa Centrale

Departure points

Where: Transfer to Pisa airport or train station

When: There will be one transfer no earlier than 8.30 am. Please don’t book trains that leave Pisa before 10.00 or flights that leave before 11.30. If you need to leave earlier, I can arrange a special transfer at your own expense.

​Dress

Informal. Jeans are acceptable everywhere.

Weather

October11–21˚C/52–70˚F, precipitation 119 mm/4.7 in

November6–15˚C/43–59˚F, precipitation 122 mm/4.8 in

December3–12˚C / 37–54˚F, precipitation 86 mm / 3.4 in

Itinerary is subject to change if necessary due to weather or agricultural conditions or other events outside our control.